I mentioned in an earlier blog that Physicians Concerned for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) has become alarmed over the increasing hostility toward science in the United States. Katherine Stewart, the author of the book, Good News Club agrees and warns that innocent sounding programs lik

I suppose everyone has a love/hate relationship with his electronic devices. In my case, it’s mostly hate though I love search engines. I couldn’t write effectively without one. Facts give a plot its credibility. That said, I approach my computer with trepidation every time I fire

A new book has come out by Eben Alexander, Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon’s Journey into the Afterlife. Dr. Alexander fell into a comma and during this period, he believes he had a vision of heaven. As he is a westerner and a Christian, his vision is congruent with traditional reli

During coffee the other day, I was astounded to hear a friend complain that she was tired of reading about all those wealthy folks with their million dollar houses. Normally, I’d listen and nod but this time I had to correct her. “I’m sorry, Betty, but you’re a bit behind the

Before I decided to devote myself to writing, I was a visual artist, silk painting mostly, but I did a number of hand-painted eggs which I sold at a local art gallery. I loved to work with miniatures because the concentration it required made the world drop away. To be honest, I was a

The Thanksgiving break gave me leisure time to kick back and relax. No blog for Thursday meant I could get into one of those $1 book finds I’d piled up on my end table. My holiday read was a paperback mystery first published in 2008. Mighty Old Bones by Mary Saums is definitely a co

The park this morning was crystalline with rain. As I walked along a leaf strewn path, the lines from a Shakespearean sonnet came to mind: That time of year thou mayst behold in me, when yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang upon those boughs which shake against the cold, bare ruine

Recently I had coffee with a friend and over our steaming mugs, she reacted to one of the magazines I mentioned in passing. “Town&Country? I never thought of you as an elitist,” she giggled. Unphased, I replied with an airy wave of my hand. “If I ever meet an elitist, I fe

Michael Callahan’s piece on Daphne du Maurier in the November issue of Town&Country, (pg. 54) heartened me like a light blinking in the wilderness. Recently, I’d been interviewed by a young journalist for my new book Trompe l’Oeil. She asked what genre best described my work

All my life libraries have been important to me, first as a student, then as a researcher and now as a writer. Most people would give libraries a thumbs up, even if it meant using it as a place for respite from the rain. I got to thinking about the many uses of the library after rea